It was jump started prior to my arrival, I just drove it on my beavertail trailer in 6WD low. No problem. It looked pretty new to me, we could not believe it when we saw it. The batteries are dead 100% and it would not restart. I am going to Chicago right now (as a passenger) with the truck in the lowboy trailer.
Sometimes even a blind hog... :) Looks like ya' scored on that one.
One imagines there's going to be a "veritable plethora" over the next few years unless they just scrap/abandon everything over there and don't even ship it home--nothing they could do would surprise me.
I figured out the battery problem. There are four batteries in the battery compartment. Only two were connected and one of them was bad. I swapped it with another battery that was not connected, and the truck starts and runs good.
Thanks. I will see how it goes. It seems to have a few problems, the driver's door stopped opening, the ABS light is on, and it seems to drop air pressure in the airbrake system. The first and last one I am sure will be an easy fix. The ABS, I am not so sure, you can drive it without ABS, just brake lightly to avoid wheel lock-up, and avoid tailgating.
If you know HOW to drive, driving without ABS does not require making any adjustment to your driving style. Just don't lock the brakes. Same as driving a pre-ABS vehicle.
THis is how I always drive. I just replaced the rear brake pads for the first time in my pick-up truck, at 88,000 miles. The front brake pads were less than halfwork and did not need replacing.
I almost never brake hard, I do not need to, I keep the distance and drive on cruise control, pleasantly contemplating stuff, instead of being glued to the gas pedal, weaving in and out of traffic.
Is that ABS "anti-lock brake system" or "air brake system"? If it's an antilock system, someone may have bled the brakes wrong and uncentered the warning piston. (Remembering way back when I did wrenchin'...) OR it could be that some ancient air line is cracked and leaking, which set off the ABS light.
Do a thorough lube job on all hinges, latches, etc. with spray lithium grease. I've fixed more dead old-car latches with that stuff than you can imagine. Available at Home Depot, AutoZone, Pep Boys, etc. Just spray it inside the latch assembly without removal, bang it around a dozen times or so, and it magically starts working again. Unless the handle/rod was disconnected from the latch itself, which is easily possible. Pop the inner door cover off and see. 90% of dead latches I've worked on were just stuck or disconnected. Few actually broke. YMMV.
Very possible the ABS light is related to the air leak.
" The safety of the M939 series of trucks has been criticized, especially braking performance and stability when loaded. In 1999 the US Army began refitting anti-lock brake systems to the M939 trucks. Until the trucks were modified, they were limited to a 40 mph (65 km/h) top speed by an Army-wide safety order.
Prior to that improvement, 26% of all Army vehicle accidents and 53% of all Army vehicle accident fatalities were in M939 series trucks. From
1987 to 1998 the series made up 9% of the total US Army vehicle inventory, but accounted for 34% of all fatal accidents.
The problem seemed to be that the torque converter would "lock up" in
2nd gear, and would not unlock easily. When the driver attempted to brake hard, often in a sudden or 'panic' stop, and accidentally locked the brakes (no wheel movement, tires skidding), this would kill the engine; this also killed the power steering, and the driver would suddenly be unable to steer. Too often, the truck would veer sideways and either hit something or roll over. "
That's interesting: on every vehicle that I (or my wife) have ever had, the front brakes wear 2 or 3 times as fast as the back. 'Cause that's where the weight is - especially on stopping, with the inertial weight transfer. Do you generally have a lot of weight in the back?
Not part of ABS - you are thinking WAY back to the first fual ballanced systems - failsafe so if one half of the system loses pressure you still have SOME brake.
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